Notre Dame, Ind. - University of Notre Dame hockey coach Jeff Jackson today announced the 2012-13 Notre Dame hockey schedule. The 37-game schedule opens on Sunday, Oct. 7 with a preseason contest versus the U.S. National Under-18 Team that opens the 19-game home schedule at the Compton Family Ice Arena.

The 2012-13 schedule features six possible games versus teams from the WCHA (Nebraska-Omaha - possible opponent at Ice Breaker Tournament, two with Minnesota-Duluth and North Dakota and one with Minnesota), two with Hockey East teams (one each with Boston College and Maine) and one potential game with Army from Atlantic Hockey. The Irish will have just one exhibition game with the opening game versus the U.S. National Team Development Under-18 team.

The regular-season campaign will begin on Friday, Oct. 12 when the Irish face off against the University of Maine Black Bears at 6:00 p.m. (CT) in the opening game of the Ice Breaker Tournament at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. Army and Nebraska-Omaha will square off in the second game of the tournament at 9:00 p.m. (CT). The two winners will meet on Saturday, Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m. with the third-place game set for 3:30 p.m. Notre Dame last appeared in the Ice Breaker Tournament to open the 2010-11 season in St. Louis, Mo.

The Irish then return home to open the regular-season home schedule on Thursday-Friday, Oct. 18-19 when Notre Dame plays host to the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. Game times each night at the Compton Family Ice Arena are set for 7:35 p.m. The final weekend in October has the Irish traveling to Michigan's Upper Peninsula where they will battle the Northern Michigan Wildcats in a pair of 7:35 p.m. games in Marquette, Mich., Oct. 26-27.

Things don't get any easier for the Irish in November as seven of their eight games will come versus teams that advance to the 2012 NCAA Tournament as Notre Dame will face CCHA tournament champion Western Michigan (Nov. 2 and 4) before traveling to defending national champion Boston College (Nov. 9) and Michigan (Nov. 15-16). The Irish return home to face perennial WCHA power North Dakota at Notre Dame for the first time in 31 years for Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 23-24) before closing the month and starting December with a pair of home games versus Lake Superior State (Nov. 30-Dec. 1). North Dakota last faced the Irish in South Bend on Jan. 17, 1981 at the Joyce Center.

The Dec. 1 game with the Lakers is the first of four games in December, as Notre Dame will host Michigan State on Dec. 7-8 before closing the month with a post final exam single game at Bowling Green on Saturday, Dec. 15.

For the second consecutive year, the Irish will open the second half of the season in Minneapolis, Minn., on Saturday, Jan. 5 when they face the University of Minnesota in a single game at Mariucci Arena. From there, Notre Dame travels to Michigan State for two games (Jan. 11-12) with a single game at Bowling Green on Tues., Jan. 15 closing out a string of five straight road games. The Irish then close out January with four straight home games - two with Alaska (Jan. 18-19) and two with Ferris State (Jan. 25-26).

February is highlighted by Notre Dame's first outdoor game in the modern era of the program on Sunday, Feb. 17 when the Irish travel to Chicago to face the Miami RedHawks at Soldier Field. The game is part of the Hockey City Classic doubleheader that also includes Minnesota playing Wisconsin following Notre Dame's game with Miami. Six of the eight games in February are on the road - at Ohio State (Feb. 1-2), at Miami (Feb. 15 and 17) and at Western Michigan (Feb. 22-23).

The regular season comes to an end on March 1-2 when the Irish battle Bowling Green at the Compton Family Ice Arena.

In the final season of CCHA action, the Irish will play will play Bowling Green, Michigan, Michigan State and Western Michigan four times each (two home and two away) with two games apiece versus the remaining six teams. Notre Dame will play host to Alaska, Ferris State and Lake Superior State while traveling to Miami, Northern Michigan and Ohio State.

Weeknight (Thur.-Fri.) games will start at 7:35 p.m. with Saturday games set for 7:05 p.m. Notre Dame's two Sunday games will have a 5:05 p.m. start time. The Sat., Nov. 24 game versus North Dakota also will drop the puck at 5:05 p.m. All times are subject to change when television announces its schedule.

Season tickets are currently on sale now for the 2012-13 season. Tickets can be purchased by calling 574-631-7356 or logging onto und.com/tickets. They can also be purchased in person at The Murnane Family Ticket Office from 8:30 to 5:00 p.m. daily.